I survived a brain tumor AMA

- 23 Replies
Ask away

Also...
YAY! Thats so awesome that you survived it! Happy for you and your family:)

I have no idea why I survived. I don't even know how I got through it. I was diagnosed at the age of 26 after having a gran-mal seizure for the first time in my life. I was with my now dh at the time. We were only dating for a month. He called 911 & they rushed me to the er, did bloodwork & a cat scan & everything came back fine. They told me to follow up with a neurologist. My neurologist ordered an MRI & that's when they saw a golf ball size tumor in my right temoral lobe. They had me see a neurosurgeon & scheduled a craniotomy (brain surgery) to remove it. The surgery took 12 hours & was very hard to recover from. Thank god the tumor came back benign but it can come back. I didn't need chemo or radiation. I still had seizures after the surgery but over time they stopped. I'm now 35 & haven't had a seizure in 4 years off meds. I'm not very religious or spiritual. It was the scariest & hardest thing I've ever been through.
Quoting Angelicembrace: Why do you think you survived? Some people believe its strictly medical, some think its more spiritual, some think its a mix of both. Also... YAY! Thats so awesome that you survived it! Happy for you and your family:)


Yes. I have never had depression or anxiety until that surgery. I think it changed somthing in my brain. I now have depression & anxiety & take meds for it. No side effects from the seizures except how I feel for a couple days after having one.
Quoting malissaL: Any side effects from the seizure or surgery?

IT WAS THE SIZE OF A GOLF BALL?? holy shit, girl, i would kiss the earth every waking day.
that's awesome for you, and awesome of your dh to stick by you like that. what a crazy story!

Yeah, it was pretty big. My surgeon said that they are slow growing tumors & I probly had it for 10 years before it starting causing problems. I think it's one of the main reasons why I love my dh & married him. He was by my side from the begining & hardly knew me. When I woke up from that first seizure he was crying & saying please don't leave me. (he's not at all a crier). He was at the hospital everyday to be with me even though he worked 2 jobs & had no car (he took the bus). This was almost 10 years ago. I keep hearing stories of people with brain tumors & them coming back malignant & it makes me feel so lucky. This all happened before us getting married & having children so mabey I survived so I could live long enough to have my dd who is now 2.
Quoting AngryBob:IT WAS THE SIZE OF A GOLF BALL?? holy shit, girl, i would kiss the earth every waking day.
that's awesome for you, and awesome of your dh to stick by you like that. what a crazy story!

did they find out the reason that caused it? like are you prone to tumors?
i have a tumor in my right knee, but it's from an accident, and it's just extra bone growth. i can have it removed any time, it will never be cancerous.
that is a crazy, crazy story.

No, there's no rhyme or reason for them. My surgion said they don't have enough information on these tumors to know why or where they come from. The only weird thing is I have an aunt with a tumor in the same location of her brain. It causes her to have seizures too but she's in her 70's & doesn't want to go through the surgery to remove it & I honestly don't blame her. The surgery & recovery was really hard.
Quoting AngryBob:did they find out the reason that caused it? like are you prone to tumors?
i have a tumor in my right knee, but it's from an accident, and it's just extra bone growth. i can have it removed any time, it will never be cancerous.
that is a crazy, crazy story.